Things We Lost in The Fire
by Naturegirl15
Summary: The 46th Hunger games were approaching and no one could know what horrors they would hold. Twenty-four tributes entered the dreaded arena but only one would leave. Could it be Sparrow, an unassuming girl from District 7? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Time to fly

The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon over the treetops of District 7 and Sparrow was already in the woods. She had always been an early riser and this morning was no different even if The Reaping was to take place later that same day. She felt more at home here than she did in her own house because here was where she truly felt peaceful. For a few blissful moments she could forget her sick brother. She could forget all of the responsibilities she had as her parents' eldest child. And most importantly, she could forget that today was the very day that the districts feared more than any other.

Sparrow lay against the trunk of a pine tree, high enough to see the sunrise properly. _Why couldn't every moment of every day by this serene?_ She sighed. She doubted that she would ever see the day when fear and desperation were not the driving forces of peoples' everyday lives.

She was a fairly ordinary girl, fifteen years old with a slight, strong build from working in the forests from the moment she could lift an ax. Her family was luckier than most, she supposed. They could almost always afford two meals a day and had the luxury of feeling happy every now and again. But life got in the way. Oh yes, life could always be counted on to get in the way of happiness if nothing else. Her eleven year old brother had a debilitating illness that only Capitol medicine could heal and that they had no hope of getting their hands on. Her father worked day in and day out to give his family an acceptable life, free of starvation. Her mother had extreme anxiety from constantly worrying about her two children. Yes, the woods were certainly much easier to handle.

Now that the sun was fully in the sky, Sparrow supposed that she had better head back home so that she could get herself cleaned up for The Reaping. She leapt from her vantage point on the branch and began following her trail home. How she despised The Reaping. As she walked she grabbed twigs and snapped them, imagining them as Capitol citizens, imagining them as each and every person who believed that children killing one another is a form of entertainment. Her vision began to blur and she had to lean against a tree to steady herself and calm her breathing. She would not walk into the district, into her house, showing weakness. There was enough of that around here as there was. She had to be the strong one. She always had been and even though the Hunger Games were approaching that could not change.

After wiping her face one more time, she continued walking and soon found herself back to the center of her district. Her home resembled a ghost town on a good day but this early on Reaping Day made it feel like Sparrow was the last human in Panem. There was a heaviness to the air, a feeling of despair and hopelessness that settled on Sparrow's body like fog.

She continued on and soon spotted her one story home. She entered the front door and saw that her mother, Solstice, was indeed already up and buzzing around the kitchen. Her mother was a kind and loving soul who tried her best every day to make Sparrow and her brother feel comfortable but the strain of this job showed in her actions and behavior.

"Sparrow, sweetie, I was beginning to worry where you were! Breakfast will be ready soon. Go on and get ready for The Reaping," Solstice's voice faltered on the last sentence but she did her best to cover it up and kept moving about.

"Sorry mother I was just out in the forest. I'll go see if Lichen is awake yet and get ready afterwards."

Sparrow made her way to the back of the house where she shared a room with her brother. He lay there in bed, looking for all the world like a small, normal eleven year old boy without a care in the world.

She stood by his bed and gently shook his shoulder. "Lichen. Hey. Come on wake up we have to get ready and eat breakfast."

Lichen mumbled something unintelligible and cracked open one eye. "Sparrow come on do I have to get up now?"

"Yes I'm afraid you do. You don't want me to go to The Reaping all alone do you?" Sparrow smiled sadly, realizing that this joke was not in the least bit funny.

Lichen fully opened up his eyes and looked at her. The peaceful expression from before was gone and replaced by one of sadness and fear. "Promise me something Sparrow."

"Of course, anything you want," Sparrow leaned closer to her little brother.

"Please come back," Lichen whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

"What do you mean? Of course I will, The Reaping only lasts an hour at the most."

Lichen only looked at her, an anxious and wary look on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- No turning back

**A/N: Hey guys so this is only the second chapter in my first fanfiction ever! What do you guys think so far? Any sort of review would be helpful! Also, I do not own anything! **

Once Sparrow had helped Lichen out of bed and into the kitchen for breakfast, she went about the tedious task of getting ready for the Reaping. Freshly bathed, she gazed down at what she was to wear for the ceremony. A plain lavender colored dress, it complimented her figure and her light brown eyes nicely.

One part of her enjoyed this fearful day because it allowed her to look nice for once. It allowed her to pretend that she could afford items like this dress for every day wear. Too bad the only time she got to dress up was for this sick and twisted event.

"Sweetie are you ready to get your hair done?" Sparrow's mother called from the kitchen.

"Yes mother that would be nice, thank you," She said quietly.

Her mother came into the bedroom and quickly began styling her hair into intricate braids. Sparrow could see her mother's fingers shaking but they both chose to ignore it, just as they always did.

Her mother stepped back while Sparrow marveled at her appearance in the mirror. Her hair, normally limp and tangled with bits of twigs and dirt, was shiny and smooth and woven into designs atop her head. She managed a smile at her reflection and she saw a ghost of a smile appear on her mother's face too.

"Thank you mother. For everything. I don't say that enough," Sparrow turned around and embraced her shaking mother.

"I love you Sparrow. Everything's going to be ok, I know it is" Her mother whispered back.

Sparrow only nodded and stepped away, not wanting her mother to see the tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

After breakfast, her parents and brother began the laborious journey of walking to the Town Square. A journey made that much more difficult by Lichen's illness. Ever since he was a few years old, he begun having difficulty walking and now uses canes fashioned out of wood from the forest to help him. Her father, Walker, had made these supports for Lichen and now walked alongside him, giving support when needed.

Even with Lichen slowing them down, they arrived far too quickly for Sparrow's liking and soon enough she split from her family and headed towards the Peacekeepers. She held still as her blood was taken and kept a stoic expression as she walked towards the fifteen year old section.

"Sparrow! Hey, Sparrow wait up!" Eleni, a girl from her class who she considered to be one of her best friends ran up to her looking breathless.

"Hey," Sparrow said swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Sparrow it's going to be fine. We will definitely not be picked this year. You know Jade from the class above us? She has her name in twenty-four times!" Eleni looked as though she was trying to convince herself as much as Sparrow.

"Even if I don't get picked someone has to. Two children from our district will most likely die this year and there's nothing anyone can do about it," Sparrow said quietly, watching the square fill with all of the twelve to eighteen year olds.

Eleni put a hand on her shoulder and they simply stood that way until the video began playing. The video that they watched every year which broadcasted the horrors that the Dark Days brought upon them. Sparrow looked for her family in the crowd and found her father smiling confidently at her with his arm around her mother.

The district's escort walked on stage and spoke about how excited he was for the games. How disgusting. Sparrow fought back her anger and nausea as she listened to him speak in his stupid Capitol accent.

Their escort walked over to the bowl that contained all of the girl's names. She had a good chance this year. She hadn't taken that much tessarae at all compared to some. Only eleven slips with her name on it were held in that bowl, the same age as her brother. Barely any at all.

She was so busy worrying about everyone and everything that she barely heard the name that rang out through the square : "Sparrow Dolan!"

Her vision blackened at the edges and her legs went numb. No. No that couldn't be right. She must have misunderstood. It can't be her. Her brother and parents need her and she needs them she can't die yet!

She barely registered Eleni crying next to her as she concentrated on stepping towards the stage with a blank look on her face. She would not cry or show weakness. For the sake of her family and for herself she must be strong just as she always had been and always would be.

"Congratulations my dear. What a great honor this is for you and your family," Their escort simpered as they shook hands.

Once more, Sparrow had to fight down the feeling of being sick as she looked out over the crowd at her family. Her mother was an absolute wreck, clinging to her father and sobbing. Her brother was the worst though. He had a look of complete and total hopelessness and despair etched in to his face. Sparrow hoped that look would go away as quickly as possible once she died. She looked out over her home, over the forest where she had spent countless happy hours. She would probably never see it again and that thought alone almost sent the tears she was trying so hard to conceal down her face.

" Everest Spade!" That must be the boy tribute. Sparrow looked in to the crowd and watched as a small blond haired boy from the thirteen year old section made his way to the stage, the look on his face similar to Lichen's.

"Shake hands now my dears. You are district partners after all!" Their escort coaxed them towards each other.

Sparrow grabbed Everest's small hand in her own and looked in to his eyes. She nodded at him and he looked as though he relaxed, if only a bit.

Sparrow took one last glance around her home before being lead towards the imposing doors of the Justice Building.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Departing

**A/N: Here's chapter 3 and I'm hoping this will encourage some people to review! Maybe? Please? I know people are viewing it so it'd be fabulous if you'd give a review, just a word or two is all I need! Ok, on with the story. **

Her whole body was shaking and she felt nauseous. It felt similar to when she had the flu when she was ten and her parents were afraid she wouldn't make it. This felt just as awful and just as terrifying only this terror was somehow so much more real than her sickness had ever been.

Sparrow could not believe that this was actually happening to her. She kept closing her eyes and pinching herself, willing to wake up in bed and have this whole thing be a terrible nightmare. Unfortunately, she would open her eyes and they would fall without fail upon the steel door and plain walls of the room she had been lead to. This time when she opened her eyes she saw the doors bang open and watched as her family rushed in.

"Not my baby, please not my baby," her mother was hysterical and began clinging onto Sparrow with all her might.

Her father gently pulled her away and kneeled down in front of Sparrow, his brown eyes that were so much like her own boring into her.

"You can do this, Sparrow, I know you can," he said quietly. "You're smart, clever, and you've known your way around an axe for years now. You know many things about survival and the woods. You have a fighting chance."

Sparrow simply leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her father's neck, possibly for the last time. "Thank you Dad for always believing in me," she whispered, tears spilling onto his shirt.

He gently patted her back and stood up, allowing Lichen to take his place.

"You knew didn't you? This morning you acted as if you knew I'd get picked," I said looking at Lichen's thin face.

"I had a feeling," he said simply.

He sunk to the floor in front of her and hugged her as tightly as he possibly could and she began crying in earnest. The truth of the matter was, this would probably be the last conversation she ever had with her family. The last time she would feel her mother's embrace. The last time her father would give her comforting words. The last time that Lichen would look at her with his hazel eyes, always knowing more than a boy his age should.

"Time's up!" a Peacekeeper demanded from the doorway.

"Win. Please. You can make it home, I know you can!" Lichen pulled back and stared into her eyes, his lower lip trembling slightly.

"Make good alliances with those you can trust the most. Just remember when it comes down to it that you have to be willing to try anything to survive if you want to come home," her Dad said while holding up her sobbing mother.

"Thank you for everything. I am so grateful for the family I have," my voice cracking as tears sped down my face. "I will try my hardest for all of you. I will try to make it home."

The Peacekeeper came in and lead her family out then. She could hear her mother's sobs long after the door closed. She tried to compose herself as best as she could and had mostly finished wiping the tears from her face when the door sprang open again and Eleni came in.

"Oh, Sparrow why did it have to be you?" Eleni grabbed her friend's hands in her own and stared at her with red rimmed eyes.

"Don't worry about my Eleni ok? I'm going to try my hardest out there to win for you, my family, and my district. I won't go down without a fight and you can count on that."

Eleni collapsed into Sparrow's arms and they simply cried together until the Peacekeeper ordered her to leave as well. Sparrow watched the steel door slam shut and thought about how truly alone she now was. No matter what, from now until the end she was completely and utterly alone.

0.0.0

She stepped into her room on the train and gazed around, dumbfounded by the extravagance of it all. The rest of the train had been the same; chrome fixtures, expensive bottles of every drink imaginable, plush arm chairs. She sat down on what was to be her bed for the duration of the train ride and marveled at how large it was. Her whole family and then some could fit on it.

Suddenly all of her sadness and shock melted away and was replaced by an unquenchable anger. All at once she was on her feet pacing back and forth across the room, her hands balled into fists. _I can't believe this, I can't, this is all too much to take in. Why can't I just be at home with my family?_ Tears were streaming down her face as she lunged towards her pillow and screamed as loudly and as long as she possibly could. Her throat burning and raw, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her vision too blurry to make out any of the details. How dare the Capitol do this to her, to twenty-four children every year? This wasn't just punishment anymore for the rebellion of the districts. No, this was cruel entertainment made to scare the districts into behaving. In that instance she felt more hate for those people than she ever had before in her life.

After about an hour she had calmed herself down enough to be somewhat presentable and decided she might as well have a look at the rest of the train. She stepped out of her room and ran right into Everest who jumped back with surprise.

"Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going," Sparrow said, feeling herself blushing at her stupidity.

"Oh no, its fine don't worry about it," Everest said softly, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Hey do you maybe want to walk around a little bit? Get to know each other a little more?" Sparrow asked.

"Sure I would like that very much," Everest stated, a faint smile pulling at his lips.

They walked aimlessly around the hallways talking about their school and family life. Sparrow found comfort in this action and it was clear that Everest did as well. It was nice to pretend for a little while that they were just two children talking together instead of two terrified tributes being forced to kill or be killed in two weeks' time. During the hour or so that they talked, they both came out of it understanding one thing. When it came right down to it, they would protect each other with their lives when the time came.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Dreaming

That night Sparrow collapsed on to her bed, utterly exhausted from the events of the day. The shock had worn off considerably and she was finally beginning to understand how real everything was. She had eaten dinner that night with Everest, their District's escort, and their District's victor Blight who had won seven years previously during the 39th Games. He had talked to them for almost two hours about his own Games and how they should prepare for theirs. Her mind was still spinning from all of the survival and weapon tips he had given them. She only hoped she could remember everything he had told them when it counted.

Tomorrow they would be arriving in the Capitol where they would be escorted to the Training Center and the torture would really begin. As silly as it was, she was most afraid for the interviews. She had never been that great in front of people and the idea of being interrogated in front of the entirety of Panem caused her stomach to feel as though it was trying to escape her body.

The idea of meeting the rest of the tributes was also very worrisome. They had watched the Reapings that night and there was certainly some competition to be had. The Careers looked tough and brutal just like always and some other Districts had some surprises this year. The boy from Six, Jal, looked tough and on edge, his eyes darting from side to side as he stood on stage. The girl from Nine who was named Kaalyn looked strong, powerful, and remarkably well fed. Sparrow figured she must come from a richer part of District Nine.

Then there were those who were in the middle of the pack like her. These were who she wanted to seek out as allies. District Five's female tribute Jacy and District Ten's boy who was named Salton looked good to her. Strong enough and smart enough to make it through the bloodbath but not vicious enough to mercilessly kill. Then there was the female tribute from District Three, Lea. Sparrow didn't know what to make of her. She was very young, only thirteen years old, and yet she had a clever look about her. When Sparrow first saw her at the Reaping she was reminded of her brother Lichen. The look in her eyes told Sparrow that she knew much more than a child of her age should.

Sparrow turned over in bed, her thoughts racing. She knew she would never get to sleep at this rate. She sighed and images of her family and home flashed through her mind. She choked back a sob and pushed these pictures from her mind, knowing that she really would be up all night if she allowed herself to linger on her most painful thoughts.

About an hour later, Sparrow fell into a fitful sleep from pure exhaustion but even in her dreams she was not safe. She opened her eyes to a field of golden plants, perhaps the grain that she knew District Nine specialized in. She rolled on to her back and looked up at a cloudless sky filled with sunshine. She had no idea where she was but she had a feeling that this place was not as peaceful as it looked. She sat up cautiously and looked around, seeing no other sign of human life nearby. She scanned the horizon and saw a forest that so closely resembled her home and immediately began running towards it. She wrapped her arms around a trunk of a tree and tears began falling freely from her face as she thought of memories in Seven. Suddenly she heard a loud crack nearby and turned to see a male walking towards her with a spear in his hand.

"Why hello there, aren't you a pretty thing. It is very brave of you to wander here alone," he sneered at her, twirling his spear idly.

She began backing away, panic seizing her as she realized she had no means of defending herself and knew that she had no chance of outrunning him. "St… stay away from me," she stuttered.

"Oh it's so cute how afraid of me you are. It will make killing you that much more fun," he grinned, showing jagged teeth.

Sparrow turned and fled deeper into the forest, hoping to lose him among the underbrush. She around to see if he was following her and when she turned to face forward again she was suddenly in a large warehouse of some sort that had mirrors everywhere.

She stopped running and stared around, seeing her scared face reflected many times over. Suddenly, her heart stopped as she saw another reflection of a man over her shoulder. She had nowhere to run because mirrors surrounded her at every turn. She was trapped! The male stared at her with glittering eyes and lunged forward, grabbing her by her throat and lifting her into the air.

"Please," she spluttered, attempting to kick him so that he would drop her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't you see angel? You need to die so that I can live. It's simply human nature. The circle of life, if you will," up close she could see more clearly that his eyes were pure black. No iris or pupil was in sight.

She screamed as he threw her to the ground and began scrabbling backward in a futile attempt to get away. Her back hit a mirror and the man lunged forward with his spear, grinning maniacally. The last thing Sparrow remembered was his spear going straight into her chest and seeing her panicked reflection as her blood spattered the mirror.

She woke up screaming and crying, pawing frantically at her chest to make sure there was in fact no spear sticking out of it. She threw her blankets off and climbed out of bed shaking so hard she could barely stand.

She sank to the floor against her bed and pulled her knees to her chest. She rocked back and forth in fear as she remembered what she had experienced in her dream. Never in her life had she had a nightmare as vivid and as horrible as that. She felt as if her very psyche had been shredded to bits and it hadn't even been real.

She almost screamed aloud again when she realized the true irony of her dream. In a little over a week, that dream would become very, very real.

**A/N: Hey guys hoped you liked this chapter! Finally some action, even if it was only in a dream :p. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Arriving

The morning dawned bright and early and Sparrow awoke to someone rousing her for the first time that she could remember. She was always the first one up in her house with the occasional exception of her father.

"Up, up! Today is going to be such an exciting day!" The over exuberant voice of her escort filtered through her closed door as his knuckles hit against it repeatedly.

"Ok I'm awake, I'm awake," Sparrow called out, begging the loud sounds to stop.

She had finally fallen back into a, thankfully dreamless, sleep the night before after an hour or so of racing thoughts and a racing pulse. She felt absolutely exhausted and wasn't sure how well today would go for her. She had been told that they would arrive in the Capitol at around ten in the morning and it was seven thirty now. She wished they had let her sleep longer but she supposed they would want to make sure she was ready for their big reveal to the citizens of the Capitol.

Sparrow rolled out of bed and stood a bit unsteadily on her feet. She moved to her room's closet where she undressed and pulled out a plush blue towel that was softer than anything she had felt in her life. She wound it around her body and moved to the shower where she spent at least ten minutes trying to figure it out. Her house in Seven had only had a rudimentary bathtub with one option: cold water. Here, there were dozens of buttons, soaps, and anything else she could want. Once she had finished washing her hair with a lavender scented shampoo, she stepped in to her room and began the tedious task of sorting through the contents within. Once she had found the least flashy outfit she could, she moved out in to the main compartment of the train in search of food.

She found everyone gathered around the table in deep conversation. Or rather, Blight and Everest were in the midst of conversation while their district's escort admired his reflection in the back of a spoon. She sat down heavily in her seat next to Everest and began tiredly pulling juice and toast towards her. Under different circumstances she would find herself amazed by the types of food and drink that were available but apart from a brief feeling of shock, she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Sparrow good I'm glad you're here. We have a little less than two hours to talk about strategy and how you want to present yourself to the Capitol," Blight began.

"What do you mean 'how I want to present myself'? Can't I just act normal?" Sparrow looked around at everyone at the table. She noticed her escort half smirking, half grimacing in her direction while he appraised her from underneath his teal eyelashes.

"Dear, the Capitol will never sponsor you if you act 'normal'. No offense of course," he drawled at her.

"He's right Sparrow. You need to have an angle. Something that will make the Capitol feel sorry for you, love you, be in awe of you, whatever you want. You need to think about how you want to dress, look, and act to fit into the image that you choose. And above all, you must portray your angle during the interviews in a few days. Nothing makes or breaks a tribute more than that interview. Except for perhaps what you do in the arena," Blight continued, looking more anxious and serious by the minute.

Sparrow, in the mean time, was attempting to control her breathing because she was feeling as though she would pass out at any moment. How on earth would she pull off this interview? She hated being in front of people! Hated most people in general in fact. Besides the actual games themselves, this would be the worst experience of her life, she was sure of it.

0.0.0

In what seemed like no time at all, the train was beginning to slow down and Sparrow looked outside to see the most amazing sight she had ever seen. Huge buildings rose for as far as the eye could see and they were all made out of a shining silver material that reflected the sun back into her eyes. She had never in her wildest imagination seen anything like this. Even the wealthiest in District Seven only had two story wooden houses. She was sure that not even the affluent districts such as 1 and 2 could compare to what was seen here.

"Remember to wave and look friendly! This is your first stop in gaining sponsors for the games," Blight explained to them as they began slowing down even more.

Sparrow began waving and smiling as hundreds of Capitol faces swept past the window. Men, women, and children all decked out in the most bizarre attire she had ever seen. Golden hair a foot high, earrings dangling down to waists, skin dyed pink, and more. Their district escort was now the one who fit in and they were the outsiders. It was obvious that he was reveling in all of the attention from 'his people' as he pranced around in front of the window, blowing kisses.

The truth was, Sparrow would rather be spitting in the Capitolites' faces because of what they do to children every year. But she also knew that if she wanted any sort of shot at sponsors it would need to begin now. That way even if her interview didn't go so well she'd still hopefully have a few people that would care about her. Everest was smiling as well even though he looked extremely nervous. Sparrow put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he nodded at her in thanks. She felt bad for him. Two years younger than she was and he had an even lower chance of making it out alive. No chance at all really. No thirteen year old had ever won the games after all.

After what felt like hours the train finally pulled in to the station and they were all escorted out on to the platform. They were flanked on all sides by Peacekeepers and even then reporters somehow found a way to shove their way through, shoving microphones in their faces.

"How do you think you'll do Sparrow? And sort of secret tactic you want to share with us? How about you Everest, feeling nervous yet? For a thirteen year old the games are a dangerous place to be!" A woman with pink hair and yellow eyes leered at them.

Sparrow simply grabbed Everest's arm and continued walking purposely forward. She agreed with trying to get sponsors but answering questions like that was impossible. She wanted to throttle the woman for what she had said to Everest. He was scared enough as it was! She glanced at him and saw that he looked like he was going to be sick or pass out. Maybe both.

They finally made it into the Training Center where they were peacefully left alone. They were shown where the main training area was along with the dining centers. They were then lead to an elevator and told that they would be on floor seven. The doors clanged shut and they all stayed silent, wrapped up in their own thoughts until they reached their home until the games would begin.

**A/N: A big thank you to KS who was my first reviewer! Hopefully this will inspire some of you to follow his/her lead? Anyway, the story is starting to heat up and interactions with the other tributes will be coming shortly!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Four days

Shortly after they had all settled in to their rooms, they found themselves surrounding the dining room table discussing what was to come. Sparrow was already tired of the whole situation and it had only been a little over twenty-four hours since she had been reaped. They were told that tonight would be the chariot rides which were then followed by three days of training. The last day of training would also contain the interviews. The games would start the day after that. That meant, including today, only four days stood between Sparrow and the games. Four days between her and her imminent demise. She felt sick. On one hand she wanted to cling to these last few days with all of her strength but on the other she just wanted it to all be over.

She tuned back in to what Blight was saying. "The hardest part about meeting the other tributes is knowing who you can trust. Well, trust enough to not stab you in the back the first night. Try to make alliances with a few others that seem as though they can take care of themselves but are not ruthless," Blight's eyes flicked between the two of them. "Will you two be in an alliance together?"

"Of course," Sparrow declared. She saw Everest giving her a grateful look out of the corner of her eye.

"Ok. In that case I would recommend finding around two others to help you get through the start of the games. A few days in and you should go it on your own. The last thing you want is to face an ally in the final two," Blight said, his eyes flickering sadly.

Sparrow met Everest's innocent blue eyes and gulped. She knew that she could never kill him. Not even if it meant that she would get to go home. She didn't even know if she could kill anyone period, let alone her own district partner.

"Thanks so much for the advice Blight. You've been so helpful," Everest said in his quiet voice while Sparrow nodded in assent.

Blight smiled faintly at them and stood up to leave, patting each of them on the shoulder before he walked out of the room.

"Thanks for saying you'd be in an alliance with me. It was really nice. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you," Everest said shyly.

"Don't worry about it. We're district partners. Of course I'll always be right by your side," Sparrow said kindly.

"Until the end?" Everest said pinning her with his gaze.

Sparrow suddenly found it hard to swallow. "Until the end," she agreed.

0.0.0

Sparrow gazed at herself in the full length mirror, her glistening skin illuminated by soft, flattering lighting. Her stylist, Arcilla, had placed her in an outfit that represented District 7 without going overboard like she had seen in previous years. She was fitted with denim jeans, boots, and a plaid shirt tied around her waist. Her hair was in a simple braid down her back and she wore a white headband with a bow on one side. She didn't mind it really, not at all. It really didn't look like anything she had seen anyone wear back home but it was much better than what some districts were forced to wear.

"You look simply amazing. You're glowing. Sponsors will be tripping over themselves trying to get to you," Arcilla said, wrapping her arm around Sparrow's shoulders.

"Thank you. Really. I couldn't ask for anything better," Sparrow smiled genuinely at her stylist.

"You're very welcome. It's not often that I get such beautiful and kind tributes to work with," Arcilla said while dabbing at her eyes with a hankercheif.

"Attention tributes please begin making your way to the chariots. We will begin in five minutes," A voice sounded through the room.

Sparrow calmed her shaking hands and moved her way towards the door. She and her stylist were then faced with a long winding hallway that ended with a huge room. This room was complete and utter chaos. Various tributes being lead towards their chariots, stylists and mentors running back and forth, and at the center of it all huge golden chariots with two black and white horses at the head of each one. Sparrow had never seen anything so beautiful and yet so imposing at the same time.

As she gazed around at everything just trying to make sense of it all her eyes locked with the District Ten boy Salton who she hoped to become allies with. She nodded in his direction and he returned her nod with a faint smile. She was considering trying to make her way over to him then but was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around to see Everest's amused expression.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," He said grinning slightly.

"Uh-huh, sure you didn't," she said, shoving his shoulder lightly.

Just then Blight walked up to them with Arcilla and a man with diamonds sewn in to his hair who Sparrow assumed was Everest's stylist.

"Ok you two listen up. You might think this whole thing is stupid and not worth your time but it is extremely crucial. As soon as your chariot pulls in to the arena I want you to seem as appealing as you can. Wave, smile, look happy and honored to be here. That kind of behavior will be eaten up by the sponsors," Blight commanded.

Everest nodded while Sparrow made a noncommittal noise. She knew that's what they had to do even if she didn't want to. She couldn't wait until this was over. She hated attention of any kind let alone the entirety of Panem focused on her.

"One minute tributes, one minute. Please board your chariots now," the same voice echoed through the room.

Everest and Sparrow made their way towards their chariot and stepped on to it. Sparrow couldn't help but admire the beauty and raw power of the horses in front of her. She had never seen one before in real life and they were incredible. She cautiously leaned forward and patted the animal's side. As it turned towards her, Sparrow caught her breath but the creature merely gazed at her. Sparrow smiled slightly and leaned back to see Everest watching her.

"You really like animals don't you?" he asked her.

"Yeah I do. We don't get too much experience with them in Seven but anything that reminds me of the outdoors is something I'm interested in," she smiled at him.

Suddenly, music began blaring and Sparrow could see District One's chariot begin moving forward. The pair of tributes looked extremely confident and excited for what was to come. She wished she could feel that way. She almost wished that their chariot was first. Watching each district file out in front of her knowing that their turn was slowly approaching was torture.

Finally they were moving forward and Sparrow gripped the edge of the chariot hard. A moment later they were bathed in sunlight and were met with thousands of cheering Capitol citizens. The entire arena was carpeted with people dressed in everything she could imagine. It looked like a rainbow was blanketing the walls.

She began waving, trying to focus on all parts of the arena at once. The Capitolites were cheering, not as loudly as they had for the Careers but not too shabby for District Seven. In a moment of inspiration, she grabbed Everest in a one armed hug and continued waving and blowing kisses to the crowd. The volume rose even higher and Sparrow knew that this is the angle she would use. The protective older sister act. And the best part was, it wasn't even an act. She did care about Everest and did want to protect him more than anyone else in the Games.

_Yes,_ she thought to herself as their chariot slowed to a stop in front of President Snow. _This is definitely something that Blight will approve of and it will work to my advantage_.

**A/N: Hey guys, here's the next chapter! Training day one will begin next. Do you think any alliances will be formed? Any enemies made? Any more interactions between Sparrow and Salton? Please continue reading and reviewing! :) **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Preparing

Sparrow awoke with a start, breathing heavily and feeling panicked. She knew that she was lucky to not remember whatever she had just dreamed. It was 6:40 am and she felt wide awake which was unfortunate for her because she didn't even have to be at breakfast until eight. She figured she might as well get up and explore more of the building since there really hadn't been any time the day before.

She stood up and stretched, feeling her back pop from having been so tense with anxiety the day before. She groaned slightly as she imagined the pain she would feel after today. Her first day of training. The mere thought sent butterflies through her stomach. As worried as she was, she was also sort of excited. She wanted to do and to learn as much as she could before the games began.

After getting dressed she wandered District Seven's floor but, finding nothing of interest, decided to take the elevator down to where the training center was. She knew that this was allowed as long as she did not go inside the center itself and she wanted to know more about the place.

Her barefooted steps resounded loudly on the staircase as she descended in to the empty first floor of the building. It was almost eerie how quiet it was. She reached the floor and began walking aimlessly, hoping that she didn't accidently end up in some restricted area that they neglected to mention to her the day before.

Suddenly, she felt the hair on her neck stand up. She knew that this almost always meant danger. Her father had taught her that if she was ever outside working in the forest and she felt this feeling that she should immediately fall to her hands and knees in case lighting struck her. That way, the current would go straight into the ground and do her body less harm. However, she knew that this was not lightning. She strained her ears and heard the faint sound of someone coming towards her. She whipped around and gasped as she came face to face with a startled blue eyed boy.

"You scared me half to death! I thought I was alone down here," she said defensively, feeling foolish for getting so scared.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, honest," Salton grinned sheepishly.

"It's ok," she said, still trying to calm her breathing. "You're Salton right? From District Ten?"

"That's right! And you're from District Seven. Is it Sparrow?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

"Well Sparrow, what're you doing down here at such a ghastly hour?" he joked.

"I could easily ask you the same question," she responded, crossing her arms in a mock angry stance.

He grinned even wider and responded, "I get up really early. I always have. It sucks but I guess that comes from working on the farm back home."

"I've always gotten up really early too. I work in the forests in my district but I get up even earlier than everyone else does for some reason," she shrugged.

In an unspoken agreement, they began walking in unison around the building, talking about their lives in the districts. Although they would never admit it, they were both desperately craving simple human contact that was for one minute not peppered with fear and anticipation.

"So how old are you anyway? I'm fifteen," Sparrow asked, glancing at Salton's profile.

"Sixteen," he said, his eyes turning to meet hers.

She averted her eyes, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"So, uh, what's life like back in Ten? I know you do a lot of agriculture but that's about it," she said.

"Yeah farming is just about all there is. I have two siblings, one older and one younger. My older brother Liam is nineteen so he at least escaped the Reaping," Salton's face briefly twisted. "Then there's my younger sister Heather who's only ten. If I win these games I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect her from this fate," his bright eyes bored into her own.

"I have a younger sibling too," Sparrow said softly. "Lichen. He's eleven and he has a disability which makes it difficult for him to walk. I want to win for the same reason as you. To go back to him and make sure he lives as full of a life as he can."

They hadn't even realized they had stopped walking and were just facing each other in the middle of the otherwise empty hallway. Salton was still staring at her and Sparrow found that she was unable to look away.

"Oh it's already 7:30. I have to go get ready for breakfast," Salton said, suddenly looking as awkward as Sparrow felt.

"Yeah, you're right! We've got to get going," Sparrow said and they walked back to the elevator together.

Salton stepped in first and pressed the button marked seven, followed by ten. They were suddenly enveloped in silence as the elevator made its way slowly upwards.

Sparrow glanced at Salton and her eyes met his. The space suddenly felt far too small. _What is going on? Why do I feel so uncomfortable?_ She reasoned that it was because of their situation. She barely knew him and in a few days time he could end up being the one to kill her. Of course she felt uncomfortable being so close to him.

After what felt like an eternity, the elevator stuttered to a stop on her floor. She walked quickly out of the enclosed space and glanced over her shoulder to meet Salton's eyes once more.

"I'll see you in training later!" she managed a smile.

She saw him grin and nod his head once before the doors closed.

0.0.0

All of the tributes were packed into the training center, some looking enthusiastic, others scared, and still others just looking lost. Sparrow felt as though she was somewhere in between scared and enthusiastic. All of the weapons lining the room glinted at her menacingly and some of the tributes looked at her in that way as well.

Once the head trainer had dismissed them to work on whatever they wanted, Sparrow watched as the District One girl, whose name she believed was Jade, picked up a spear and hurled it straight through a dummy's chest. She shivered and turned away, feeling nauseous again.

"Ok Everest what do you want to work on first?" Sparrow turned to her district partner, trying to distract herself.

He looked stricken, staring at the District One girl. He swallowed a few times and quietly said that identifying poisonous plants would probably be a good place to start.

They worked their way through that station as well as the fire building station. After that Sparrow figured it would be good to try out one of the stations that had weapons. Blight had told them not to show off their strengths early so she avoided the axes for now. They moved towards the knives and swords and began trying them out. Sparrow picked up a curved blade, about five inches in length and marveled at how balanced it felt compared to an ax. She practiced slashing at the air a few times before figuring it wouldn't hurt to throw it. She aimed at the chest of a dummy twenty feet away and was pleasantly surprised when the knife lodged in its lower abdomen.

"Wow who knew you were so good at knife throwing?" A boy's voice said nearby.

Sparrow turned around to see Salton grinning at her, looking impressed. Everest stood to the side, looking unsure of what was going on.

"Thanks," she smiled. "This is my district partner, Everest. Everest, this is the boy from District Ten, Salton."

They exchanged pleasantries and before long Everest decided to go off on his own. He wandered towards the District Three girl Lea who was fiddling with some snares.

Salton picked up a sword and Sparrow couldn't help but admire how muscular his arms were. We lunged forward a few times into the air with the sword and then went at the dummy. He moved so quickly and with such precision that Sparrow was left amazed at his skill.

"Who knew you were so good with a sword?" she mocked him.

"I'm not that good," he muttered. "I guess lassoing livestock and trying to get them to do what you want has given me practice. You have to be on your toes when dealing with an angry bull," he grinned.

Sparrow smiled back and they continued on like that for the rest of the day, travelling from station to station. Sparrow knew what Blight had said about not trusting anyone. She knew it was dumb to be considering Salton a friend. But, unfortunately for her, she just couldn't seem to help it.

**A/N: Hey guys did you like that chapter? I'm feeling a bit discouraged since not many people have been reading or reviewing. Is there anything I should be doing differently? Anything specific you want to see during the training days or the games? Let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- Trying

**A/N: Here's Chapter 8 guys! Please keep reading and reviewing **

The elevator doors opened and Sparrow stepped inside, her muscles protesting. Her arms in particular were very sore from all of the knife throwing she had done the day before. She decided to stay away from those stations today and focus on ones that she hadn't yet done.

She pressed the ground floor button and rested back against the wall, alone. Everest was still finishing breakfast and she had decided to get a jumpstart on her day. She wanted to make sure she got as much practice as she could.

She was blessed with quiet solitude until she reached the third floor and the doors opened to admit the District Three tribute Lea. She walked in and pressed herself against the back wall with her arms crossed. Sparrow still didn't know what to think of this girl who was two years younger than she, but who had an unexplainably imposing presence. She knew that Everest had tried talking to her the previous day without much success, saying that she was off-putting.

"Hey, I'm Sparrow. From District Seven," she said, trying to meet Lea's eyes which were hidden by her long, straight brown hair.

"Yeah, I know who you are. I spoke to your district partner," she said, not even glancing in Sparrow's direction.

"Yeah he told me," she said awkwardly. "So how'd training go for you yesterday?"

"Spectacular. How do you think it went? I'm the smallest tribute this year," she huffed in annoyance.

Luckily, the elevators opened at that moment and Lea was out and walking down the hallway before Sparrow had even moved. _Ok, that didn't go so well,_ she thought to herself. _I guess I should give up trying to make her an ally._

She stepped through the doors of the training center and decided on the first aid station that didn't have anyone at it yet. The head trainer began showing her various salves that could be made from plants as well as how to make a tourniquet to stop bleeding. Although all of this was quite interesting, it sent her stomach into knots knowing that she might have to use this in a few days time to save her life. She wished she was back in Seven, going over safety tips for working in the forests instead.

She thanked the trainer and stood up to leave when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Salton smiling at her.

"Someone got up early! Already one station ahead of me."

"Yeah well you know. I want to get as much information as I can," she said while smiling in return.

"Ok well you go on without me. I think I should do this station as well," he said, walking towards the trainer.

"Alright see you later!" Sparrow called over her shoulder, heading to where she saw Everest by the climbing station.

He turned towards her, his face plastered with a large smile. She smiled back, feeling glad that he had found something to be happy about.

"Finally, something I'm good at," he said quietly to her, indicating the rope walls.

"Yeah, this is definitely something District Seven prepares us for. How about a race?" she grinned.

"Ok," he said nodding his head enthusiastically. "Whoever loses has to give the other their desert at lunch."

She laughed and agreed readily.

They positioned themselves against the wall, two hands gripping the ropes and one foot getting ready to push themselves up.

"Ok. Three, two, one, go!" Everest yelled, and they were off.

Sparrow's arms were aching horribly already and this was like agony; she knew she'd regret this later. However, at the moment she could pretend that this was simply a fun race between friends back home.

Sparrow reached the top a half second before Everest did and she was completely out of breath. "Ok," she panted. "Never. Again."

Everest nodded while trying to catch his breath and they slowly worked their way back down the rope ladder which was, if anything, more painful than going up.

As Sparrow leapt the last few feet to the floor, she looked up to see that the two of them had gathered quite an audience. She saw Salton and a few other tributes smiling at them and a few others who were jeering, namely the Careers.

"Quite a neat trick you got there," the District One girl Jade said as she stared at them with bright green eyes that matched her name. "Too bad you can't climb someone to death," she snorted and moved away.

Sparrow gritted her teeth together to keep from saying something stupid and followed Everest to a new station.

0.0.0

Sparrow awoke that night screaming, another nightmare tearing through the few precious hours of sleep that she had managed to get. This time she remembered everything in full which was unfortunate for her. It involved Jade stalking her back in Seven and each time that she found a new hiding spot, Jade would leap at her, green eyes glittering, with a knife and Sparrow would barely get away each time.

She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands wearily and decided that she would walk around a bit to take her mind off of things. Her whole body ached horribly from the training and her nightmare. Her arms especially felt like someone was pulling her muscles apart; she couldn't even straighten her arms all the way. It was 2:41 am. What a perfect time to be awake when she had her last day of training and interviews ahead of her tomorrow. She fought back more panic as she thought about the interviews and what was to come the day after tomorrow: the games.

She decided to leave District Seven's floor and explore the training center some more while everyone else was asleep. As she stepped into the elevator she moved to press the button that would lead her to the ground floor but stopped when she saw what was at the top of the list. Above District Twelve's floor was a button simply marked "roof." She had never been to the roof before and wasn't even sure if they were allowed to. She decided that she might as well go see what it was like.

The doors opened slowly and the view that gradually appeared in front of Sparrow made her catch her breath. She was so high up that she could see much further than any tree she had climbed. She was surrounded by buildings and there were so many lights even for such a late hour. She had never seen anything like it.

"Hello?" Sparrow had to keep herself from gasping aloud when she heard a man's voice call out not too far away.

She began panicking. What if it was a Peacekeeper and if she was caught up here they would kill her or her family?

A silhouette appeared around a pillar and Sparrow breathed a sigh of relief as she faintly made out Salton's features.

"You scared me to death. I had no idea anyone was up here," Sparrow said faintly, feeling dizzy from holding her breath.

"I could say the same! I thought I was about to get into massive trouble being up here," Salton chuckled. "Could you not sleep either?"

"I had a nightmare and just needed to distract myself somehow," Sparrow said softly, feeling embarrassed.

"Then how about you allow me to be that distraction?" Salton smiled gently at her.

Her embarrassment evaporated and was suddenly replaced with a jittery sort of nervousness that increased exponentially as he leaned in closer to her. He got so close that she could see a pattern caused by the faint light from the nearby buildings reflecting in his bright blue eyes.

Her breath hitched as Salton's lips ghosted across her own. When she didn't protest, he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her properly.

_This can't be happening. No, no, no we're both going to die in a few days!_ Sparrow felt like laughing and crying all at once. Of course she would experience her first kiss two days before the Hunger Games were to begin. Why did she have to be feeling friendship and then some for a guy that she could never hope to be with? It wasn't fair!

She pushed Salton away as tears began streaming down her face and she turned quickly, hoping that he wouldn't see. She started blindly toward the elevator when Salton turned her back around to face him.

"What's wrong? Did you not like that?" Salton asked softly.

"No that's not it," Sparrow choked out. "We can't do this Salton. Not here, not now, not ever. We're sentenced to death and that leaves no room for anything else."

"Then why shouldn't we do this? If we're going to die anyway we might as well enjoy the days we have left right?" He coaxed her into his arms and began rubbing comforting circles on her back.

"You know what? You're right. Why shouldn't we at least try to be happy for now?" Sparrow let out a strangled laugh.

"Exactly. And you know what? When it comes down to it I will protect you with everything that I have. I don't know how or why but I feel like we've grown so close over the few days that we've known each other. And I want to keep it going until the end," Salton said, holding her tightly to him.

Sparrow nodded mutely against his chest and they stood there for minutes, hours, a lifetime.

**A/N: Hey guys so what'd you think about that? I know that rooftop scenes have been done before but… ahh well hopefully it wasn't too cliché. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- Confidence

Day three at the Training Center dawned bright and early and Sparrow did not want to face the day. Today was the last day of training, the day she was to be evaluated by the Gamemakers, and when the interviews were taking place. On top of that the Games were tomorrow! And now with everything that had transpired the night before...well. She was even more of a nervous wreck than before.

After her and Salton had kissed they had stood on the rooftop for as long as they dared before retiring to their respective rooms where Sparrow tossed and turned for longer than ever before. Around 3:30 am she had finally fallen asleep and here she was, awake at a quarter past eight. She decided she would ask Blight if there was any sort of serum from the Capitol that would give her energy for the coming day. Now that she thought about it, maybe she'd ask for something for her sore muscles as well.

After twenty minutes of trying to talk herself into getting up, she dressed and headed out into the dining area where Blight was reading a magazine and finishing up his toast. Everest was just heading out the door, on his way to the training room.

"See you done there Sparrow, ok?" Everest called. She nodded in agreement and he closed the door behind him as he headed towards the elevator.

"This may be one of the only times that everyone else is up before you," Blight said softly, appraising her over the top of his magazine.

"Yes, well. I didn't get the best sleep last night," Sparrow said, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks.

Blight thankfully didn't notice or pretended not to and got up, moving over to a large, clear mug filled with a dark liquid. He poured some of it into a cup and handed it to her.

"What is it?" Sparrow asked as she swirled it around and breathed in the wondrous new scent.

"It's called coffee. It has something in it called caffeine which should wake you up a little bit. Fair warning though, it has a really strong taste."

"Thank you so much Blight. I think this is just what I need," Sparrow breathed a sigh of relief and took a small sip of the liquid which turned out to be extremely bitter but really not too bad at all.

Blight nodded and pointed to a small bowl. "You can add a bit of sugar if you like. It will make the coffee taste sweeter,"

Sparrow smiled her thanks and pulled the bowl towards her, picking up the small spoon within and putting its contents into her cup. She stirred it around while she pulled some toast and jam towards her, knowing she'd need as much nourishment as she could get today. "I don't suppose there's anything to help sore muscles?"

Blight smiled and snorted lightly. "I don't have any but your stylists might. Ask them when they're getting you ready for your interview tonight."

"Ok sounds good. Thanks for the coffee!"

As Sparrow ate her breakfast, her and Blight briefly discussed what she would do in the private training session and they had both agreed that she would show off her skills as well as she could. She needed a leg up in this competition and Sparrow felt sure that the interview wouldn't do it for her.

After finishing her breakfast, she moved to exit the room. She felt a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. She turned around and saw Blight staring concernedly at her.

"Remember what I said about being careful who you trust," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers.

Sparrow felt a small rush of panic and embarrassment as she looked at him. _No, there's absolutely no way he could know about me and Salton. Right?_

"Of course. Don't worry, I'll be careful," she said, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat and backing away from him.

She moved out into the hallway and shut the door firmly behind her before leaning against the wall. _What have I gotten myself into?_

0.0.0

As she walked into the training center there was no doubt that she was the last to arrive. This meant that her competitors would have that much more practice than her. Her hands began trembling as streaks of panic flashed through her but, to be fair, she thought the coffee also had something to do with it. She didn't know exactly what caffeine was, but she was now fairly certain that it was pretty powerful and was making her feel pretty jittery. Of course. More nervousness was just what she needed.

As she gazed around the room, she decided to go to the shelter making station and then maybe the knot tying and snare stations. She wanted to make sure that she got to practice at every survival station at least once and then make her way back to one or two of the weapons stations later on.

Today would be slightly different than the two previous training days because their morning would be spent training while their afternoon would be spent with the Gamemakers and that evening: the interviews.

Sparrow began walking to the survival stations when out of the corner of her eye she saw Salton hurling a spear into the chest of a dummy. He turned around with a small, confident smile playing on his lips. When he looked up and saw her watching, his face broke into a true smile.

Her heart began racing as she smiled back in his direction and then continued on to the shelter making station where the trainer was showing Jal, the boy from District Six, how to weave branches together.

As she began working on her shelter and making small talk with Jal, her eyes kept flitting over to Salton of their own accord. _Focus! Stop thinking about some boy. The Games are tomorrow!_ She huffed in exasperation at herself and tried to pay more attention to what she was doing.

0.0.0

Sparrow felt her knees knocking together with nervousness as she stood just outside the door leading to the room that the Gamemakers were waiting in. She had just had to endure watching as Districts One through Six got called and finally it was her turn. Strange, how one minute you're begging for it to be your turn and the next you're wishing you could have gone at any moment but the present.

After taking a steadying breath and trying to plaster a confident smile on her face, Sparrow pushed open the doors. Blight had told her that she had to gain their attention right away as they would be starting to get bored, especially because the Career districts had already gone.

"Hello, my name is Sparrow Dolan and I am representing District Seven," she called, proud of herself when her voice didn't shake.

When a few of the Gamemakers turned and nodded at her to proceed, she began making her way over to the climbing wall. She figured this was a good place to start because of all her experience climbing trees. It would also loosen up her arms for what she had planned for later.

She placed two hands and one foot into the loops of rope while bracing one foot on the floor, the same as she had done in the training room with Everest the previous day. She breathed in and out slowly and then she was off, flying up the rope wall as fast as she could while ignoring the burning sensation in her arms. She reached the top, hit a small button that would record her time and then worked her way back down more slowly.

She grinned up at those watching her, a proud grin stretched across her face. They looked on in interest and a few smiled back at her.

Figuring this was a good sign, she thought that it was time to test her true talents. She had avoided the axes up until the last hour of training that morning so that her strengths would not be showcased for all of the tributes to see too early. She felt very confident in this skill because of the reactions she had gotten from the other tributes; many of the tributes looked afraid while some were in awe. Jade, the girl from District One, had even let out a small shriek of fury and had stalked away from her. When she chanced a glance in Salton's direction he had winked at her and smiled, sending a fluttering sensation through her stomach.

She made her way over to the gleaming racks of weapons and selected the large knife that she had been practicing with on day one of training. Focusing her attention on the dummy in front of her, she threw it as hard as she could. Unfortunately, this first throw landed in the leg of the dummy. Knowing she would have to do better, she retrieved it quickly and tried again, this time it landed right where the heart would be. Feeling like her throwing arm was a bit looser, she threw it again and it went into the throat.

"Please finish up in two minutes' time," one of the Gamemakers spoke through a sound system.

Sparrow nodded up at them and knew it was time for her grand finale. She walked slowly and purposely over to the ax station, running her fingers along each of their blades. She choose a medium sized one that had a good rubber grip. She worked her fingers along it and did a few practice swings in the air so that she could judge its weight.

Knowing she didn't have much time left, she lined up with the dummy and with a fierce heave, flung the ax clear through the air. A resounding thump sounded through the room as her ax went straight into the chest, actually causing the dummy to fall back with the blade's force.

Aside from a now even more sore shoulder, Sparrow could not have been happier. She showed them what she was made of!

She risked looking up at the Gamemakers and saw that most of them were smiling now as they took notes down on a clipboard; one man was even clapping jovially.

"Thank you Ms. Dolan. This concludes your private session," one man, who she assumed was the head Gamemaker, spoke.

Sparrow nodded once and then walked out through the door into the hallway, almost skipping in glee. Sure, she still had the interview to endure and then the actual Games but for one of the first times since she had been here (aside from her stolen moment with Salton) this was the happiest she had been.

**A/N: Hey guys so I'm still feeling disheartened by the lack of reviews…. So please do so! It would make me very happy! Also, training scores and interviews are coming up next! Ok, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter :p**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Presenting

Sparrow nibbled on her finger nail as her leg jumped up and down. She was sitting on the large plush sofa in District Seven's suite next to Everest as they awaited the presentation of their training scores. She hoped that she had done alright. Most tributes got anywhere from a five to a seven while the younger and weaker tributes got less. The Careers, of course, almost always got eights or above.

"Calm down Sparrow or you'll put a hole in the floor with your heel," Blight joked as he walked towards them. "The scores should be up in a few minutes."

Scowling at him, Sparrow tried to stop her leg from bouncing around and concentrated on her breathing as she anxiously watched the television, a commercial for cheek implants currently playing on the screen. How ridiculous could Capitol people get?

"We are back ladies and gentlemen! I'm sure that you're dying to see how this year's tributes did in training! We will start with District One's scores and work our way back to District Twelve," the outrageously dressed announcer spoke.

Sparrow watched as the training score of the District One boy, Jasper, flashed on the screen. A nine, which was to be expected. Next came Jade and Sparrow's stomach clenched as her haughty face flashed on screen along with her score: a ten.

District's Two and Four came away with an eight, two more nines, and another ten.

"This year's Career pack looks amazing!" Their escort gushed.

Blight, Everest, and Sparrow said nothing and gazed on.

District's Three through Six got medium scores, nothing too outstanding. That is, except for Lea who managed a seven. Sparrow knew for sure that her gut instinct about her was correct; she was one to watch out for.

"And now for District Seven's male tribute, Everest Miller," Sparrow saw Everest ball his hand into a fist. "This young man earned himself a five."

Everest seemed to deflate next to her as a sigh escaped him. Sparrow made no move to console him, understanding that he didn't want anyone's pity. Blight patted him on the back, his mouth set in a grim line.

"Well, it's better than last year's tributes," their escort sniffed haughtily. "That poor twelve year old only got a three and the girl didn't do much better."

Again, the three of them ignored him although with much more difficulty. Everest looked as though he was holding back tears and Blight had his teeth gritted together. Sparrow herself had to physically bite down on her tongue to stop from screaming at him.

Sparrow managed to redirect her attention to the screen right as the announcer said her name. "Fifteen year old Sparrow Dolan earned an eight! This is almost unprecedented at her age. A score not seen in District Seven since the past victor Blight."

"Good job Sparrow we can work with this for sure. You must have impressed the Gamemakers," Blight grinned at her, the first real smile she had seen on his face.

Sparrow relaxed back into her seat as the announcer moved on to District Eight, relief and amazement flooding through her. An eight! She had not expected that in the least.

"Wow that's awesome. You definitely deserved that," Everest said quietly next to her, trying to hide his disappointment.

Sparrow thanked him, some of her happiness draining out of her. She managed to focus on the screen once more right as they had released the girl from District Nine's score which was also an eight. Kaalyn had definitely shown her obvious strength in the private session. Next was District Ten and Sparrow caught her breath as Salton's face flashed across the screen.

"Salton Webber receives a score of a nine! This year's games will certainly be interesting. So many outer districts have some outstanding tributes this year," the announcer looked ready to pass out from excitement.

Sparrow looked at Salton's form on the screen and did not doubt his score for a second. He was incredible when it came to swords and she knew how strong he was from being a rancher back in Ten.

District's Eleven and Twelve passed as uneventfully as always. Blight turned off the television and turned on the couch to face them.

"Ok now the last and final step before the Games themselves: the interview. I will instruct both of you separately during the rest of the time we have so that you will be prepared."

Sparrow felt her vision darken at the edges as her breath caught in her chest. The interviews, what she was dreading most, the most horrible thing she could imagine besides the Games themselves. This would be interesting.

0.0.0

Several hours later, Sparrow found herself in nearly the same position as when she was watching the training scores only this time she had explicitly been told not to chew her nails. She stood backstage waiting for her turn to be interviewed and she had never been more scared in her life.

Once again, Arcilla had given her a simple yet elegant outfit which Sparrow was pleasantly surprised with. She wore a long, form fitting dark green gone with vine and leaf embellishments along with simple silver flats. Her long brown hair was braided to one side with a headband that looked like an elegant twisting branch and a minimal amount of makeup.

District One appeared more impressive than District Two this year which was a little unusual. Usually they went for the sultry angle but this year both tributes appeared confident and ruthless. When asked what she was most looking forward to in the Games, Jade had grinned when she said that killing by far would be the best part.

Lea had used her hardened and sly exterior to her advantage, earning gasps from the crowd at her apparent indifference and crudeness to the whole ordeal.

The poor twelve year old girl from District Five had broken down in tears when asked about her family and her interview had to be ended early.

Finally it was Sparrow's name that was called and she had to force her legs to move her up and onto the stage while taking deep breaths. She would not pass out in front of all of Panem no matter what.

"Sparrow Dolan it is such a pleasure to meet you!" The announcer, Rory Applegate gushed. "You certainly are very beautiful. And skilled too if your training score is anything to go by! Would you like to tell us about that?"

Sparrow's throat suddenly felt very dry and she had to swallow a few times before answering. "Well Rory I can't give away all of my tricks before the Games even begin now can I?"

This earned some laughs from the crowd and Sparrow relaxed a bit. Blight had decided that she would act as natural as possible while throwing in some jokes and light banter to make people want to sponsor her. The interview continued on and Sparrow discussed working in the forests back home which made her heart twinge with longing. When Rory moved on to her family was when things got hard.

"So tell me about your family Sparrow. I hear you have a brother who means very much to you."

"Yes his name's Lichen. He's eleven and means everything to me," Sparrow said rather quietly, trying to appear calm while desperately holding back tears.

"That's quite sweet. He has a disability doesn't he?"

"Y..yes he can't walk very well. He needs to use supports that my dad built for him in order to move around properly," Sparrow's voice shook slightly.

"Your family sounds very caring. Is that your main motivation for winning? To return home?"

Sparrow's hands were shaking slightly but she looked up into Rory's eyes and then out into the crowd and no tears could be found. "That is my only motivation for returning home. If I won I could get medicine to heal my brother and maybe he could walk properly. He could know what it's like to climb a tree and run like all of the other kids do."

Sparrow could see people in the audience wiping their eyes and Rory looked genuinely sad as he gazed back at her.

"Well I'm sure that you will try your hardest to return home. Sparrow Dolan everyone!" Rory stood up and put his arm around Sparrow's shoulders as the audience cheered their approval.

Sparrow stumbled slightly as she walked off the stage and passed by Everest who was just walking up. She rested her hand briefly on his shoulder and he smiled softly at her in return. She sat down behind the stage, a few tears leaking down her face despite her best efforts. She watched Everest's interview which went moderately well despite his apparent nervousness.

She managed to sufficiently calm herself down by the time it was Salton's turn. She watched as he walked onto the stage, beaming confidently at the crowd and waving. He was wearing a tight fitting, dark blue button up shirt with khaki pants and his dark blonde hair had been styled into a messy arrangement. Sparrow couldn't take her eyes off of him and she betted that the rest of the Capitol women couldn't either.

"Salton aren't you a handsome fellow? Come and sit down now I won't bite," the announcer winked at the crowd and they went crazy.

As his interview continued, it was clear that Salton had been told to play up his charisma and good looks which was working brilliantly. He briefly talked about his family and life back in Ten before Rory turned to a different topic.

"Now tell me about how you do with the ladies. I'm assuming very well am I right folks?" Rory asked, as roars went up from the crowd.

Sparrow felt her heart speed up and found herself leaning forward in anticipation of Salton's answer.

"Come on now Rory you're making me blush," Salton said, laughing slightly. "Actually, there is this one girl that I've found who's amazing: beautiful, strong, and funny."

Rory's eyes lit up and he leaned forward excitedly as he found something to latch on to. "Yes, yes go on! You can't just leave us hanging like that. Is it someone from back home?"

"No, not exactly," Salton rubbed his neck, looking embarrassed.

"It must be another tribute then! Go on tell us already we're all dying to know," Rory gushed.

Salton took a deep breath and then looked straight into the camera. "It's Sparrow. Sparrow Dolan."

**A/N: Hey guys sorry about the long break. I had a lot of work to do and what with Spring Break and everything I just didn't have too much time. I know this is part is sort of copying Peeta but don't worry it will soon get much different! Next chapter the Games begin! Any suggestions or comments? Please let me know!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- Beginning

Sparrow jerked awake, a scream catching in her throat. She tried to still her trembling hands as she remembered what she had dreamed about. She had to sit by and watch Lichen being reaped for the Games and she ultimately watched as he died in front of her, unable to do anything to help him. She swallowed thickly as she watched sunlight filter through her window. How deceiving it was to feel look so peaceful when today was the beginning of the end. Today was the start of the Games.

After Salton's revelation the previous night, chaos had ensued from all sides. The crowd had gasped, Sparrow had nearly passed out, and Blight had accosted her so that he could question her. After everything that had happened, she never even got a chance to talk to Salton about what he had said.

Her pulse quickened as she pictured Salton's face and she couldn't believe that he had admitted that they had something between them. What was more, she couldn't believe that Blight was going along with it. He told her that a star-crossed lovers act could work as long as she only pretended to trust Salton. But there were two problems with Blight's idea: it wasn't an act and she already trusted him more than anyone else.

She sighed and rolled out of her comfortable bed for the last time, knowing that it was time to get ready for the biggest day of her life. After showering, she stepped in to her room to find her tribute outfit lying on her bed. She picked up the tight fitting pants and decided that they seemed to be made of a water proof texture. Next was a slightly looser fitting sleeveless shirt and a dark green military style jacket that had a lot of pockets and some sort of strange fabric on the inside. Finally, there were ankle high hiking boots that were surprisingly light for the way they looked. Sparrow had trouble imagining what the arena could possibly look like given this strange assortment of clothes.

After getting dressed she made her way into the dining area where all of the others were already seated. She took her spot next to Everest who had his head bent silently towards his plate. Blight's leg was bouncing up and down and his eyes seemed to be focusing on something far away. Their escort, of course, was simply filing his nails and humming to himself. This scene did nothing to calm Sparrow's nerves.

She began pulling food toward herself even though she had no appetite whatsoever because it was the last meal that she knew she would get. After several minutes Blight finally seemed to become aware of her presence.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her quietly.

"Spectacular," she muttered, trying to swallow a piece of toast.

"Eat as much as you can. We have to go down in fifteen minutes," Blight stood up and Sparrow noticed that for all of the advice he gave, he seemed unable to eat much of anything.

Everest looked up at her with such fear that she acted on impulse and wrapped him in a hug. He tensed briefly but then relaxed against her. "Thanks for being so kind to me Sparrow. I couldn't have asked for a better district partner," he mumbled quietly.

Sparrow felt her eyes welling up with tears and could only manage a nod of assent. She released him and they went back to eating, lost in their own thoughts.

0.0.0

Sparrow stood next to her stylist Arcilla as she prepared to enter the tube that would transport her to the arena. She was bouncing up and down on her toes and shaking out her arms, hoping that it would help her nerves to dissipate.

"_Two minutes tributes, two minutes until launch,"_ a voice sounded through the room.

"Good luck Sparrow. I'll be rooting for you all the way," Arcilla smiled shakily at her.

"Thanks. Really. You've been an awesome stylist," Sparrow said, feeling the tight ponytail that Arcilla had made for her.

Arcilla pulled her into a gentle hug which Sparrow gladly returned, knowing that this was probably the last time she would see her stylist.

"_Thirty seconds tributes,"_ the voice sounded again. Sparrow tried to get in some last minute stretching and thought about how the other tributes must be feeling right now. Poor Everest was probably barely conscious while Jade was probably already on the platform, eagerly awaiting the killing spree that was to come. Last of all, she thought of Salton and her fear seemed to double. Not only for herself but for him as well.

"Ok Sparrow you should get in now," Arcilla said quietly.

She took a deep breath and stepped onto the platform, fighting back tears. She simply looked into Arcilla's lavender framed eyes and wondered at how different their circumstances were. Shortly after that, the tube lowered over her and she could only manage a brief wave at Arcilla before she was out of sight.

As she was brought into the arena, she was not met with the blinding sunlight that she had expected. Instead she was met with clouds as dark as night with lightening etching its way across the sky. She tried to control her trembling hands as she looked at her surroundings.

She quickly saw that Everest was almost exactly opposite her and that Salton was about five tributes away from her on the right. He must have felt her staring because he turned his serious expression towards her and smiled slightly. Despite her situation, she felt the familiar tingles through her body and managed a smile back.

The next thing she noticed was that this arena was very strange indeed. Directly in front of her was the Cornucopia in the center of a field with the tributes forming a circle around it. To her right was more of the same field, stretching until it met what looked like scrubland with some scraggly trees. To her left was a rocky slope which went on and on as far as she could see. Behind her, the scrubland and rocky slope met in an odd sort of way with some shrubs and trees growing on low cliffs. Beyond the circle of tributes in front of her was a large marsh which faded into a lake on the horizon. So there was no real forest to speak of then. Her one advantage was gone in the blink of an eye and she could only wait and watch as the clocked ticked down to zero.

With a burst of sound, the tributes were off and racing towards the Cornucopia. Sparrow hadn't even looked too closely at the supplies because she had been too busy looking at the arena around her! The first thing Blight had said to her was to never get distracted and she had gone against him at the very start. She glanced wildly around her as she ran and noticed a small pack with a knife propped against it not too far away and decided that she would go for it.

The next few seconds seemed to last forever as she ran towards it; expecting a tribute to knock her down at any moment. Somehow she made it to the pack and swung it over one shoulder in one smooth moment and grabbed the knife in her other hand. She quickly looked around her and watched as the small boy from District Eight was speared through his chest and was thrown flat onto his back from how forceful it had been.

Her breath caught in her throat and all sound around her seemed to quiet as she stared at his lifeless form. She knew that this would happen; that she would see death. But she never knew how quickly a life could be snuffed out just like that. Her eyes travelled to the left where she saw the pair from District One high-fiving before the girl walked over and carelessly ripped the spear from the boy's body.

That sight shook Sparrow back into the gravity of her situation and she quickly turned and ran towards the rocky slope, figuring that not many tributes would choose that location. As she ran, her shock and sadness turned into anger. At Jade, at the Capitol, at everyone. She found herself wanting revenge on Jade for what she did. At the same time, she knew that it was stupid for her to have stood there for so long and knew that it was lucky that she wasn't dead yet.

She continued up the steep slope, stumbling occasionally and panting for breath before long. She found a small alcove that would provide a hiding place as well as shelter from the elements, as it had begun drizzling rain the further up the slope she went.

She crawled into the opening and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. As she lay there staring out at the almost black sky, she imagined that she could still hear the screams and clash of metal but knew that it was impossible. The image of the District Eight boy flying through the air replayed over and over in her head and she decided to see what her pack contained to distract her.

She found a small flask which contained water, a pack of crackers, some dried fruit, a coil of rope, and a rolled up thin waterproof mat. Overall, it was a very good pack to get because she had everything she needed for the time being. Although she wasn't too sure what she would use the rope for.

The rain picked up, as did the rain and occurrence of lightning. She could barely even see out of her alcove anymore because of how foggy it had gotten. Hopefully that meant that no one else would try climbing the slope. She backed herself as far into the corner as she could and decided to cover herself with the mat to keep the rain off of her.

The sound of canons made her jump and she stuck her head briefly out of her alcove to barely make out the anthem playing in the sky. She had counted eight canons and sure enough, eight faces appeared in the sky. First was the District Three boy, Lea's district partner. Next came the girl from District Six and both tributes from Eight. Everest was still alive! But her burst of happiness faded as the boy from Eight's face flashed across the screen. Sparrow swallowed convulsively and again pictured the spear entering his chest. The boy from Nine was also shown. Sparrow breathed a sigh of relief when District Ten was skipped and she immediately felt guilty for it. Both tributes from Eleven were killed as was the girl from District Twelve.

Sparrow rested herself back into the alcove once more and thought about who was left. There were all six of the Careers, Lea from Three, both tributes from Five, the boy from Six, her and Everest, the girl from Nine, both from Ten, and the boy form Twelve. That was a surprisingly high number of tributes, normally ten or eleven died in the bloodbath.

Sparrow sighed and rested her head back against the rock wall, slowly slipping into a surprisingly deep sleep.

**A/N: So what'd you guys think? The Games have finally begun! Any suggestions? What did you like/ didn't like. Please tell me!**


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